Swedish prosumers in a 10-year perspective – what can we learn from a market in transformation?

Panel: 9. Consumption and behaviour

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Author:
Jenny Palm, Sweden

Abstract

This paper presents the reasons households have identified for installing or not installing photovoltaic panels in Sweden. It compares the results from interviews done in 2008–2009 and in 2014–2016 with homeowners in Sweden that had installed or were considering installing photovoltaic (PV) panels. The comparison focuses on the market and on what homeowners identified as motives and barriers for investing in PVs. The paper also discusses how the market for PV panels has changed over these years.

Between 2008 and 2014, the PV market has changed profoundly, with an increase in the numbers of PV companies targeting households, the introduction of subsidies for households for installing PVs, and changes in rules, which have made it easier for households to sell electricity they produce back to the grid. At the same time, the regulations have increased for the households. The reasons for homeowners installing PV vary. Environmental motives have been consistent over the years. Some reasons have changed over the time; financial incentives had become an important motive by 2014–2016. The investment costs have remained a barrier, even though they have been reduced. New barriers in recent years are, for example, problems relating to finding information about which companies exist and how much a household will receive when selling the electricity to the grid. Installation was no longer a barrier by 2014. In 2008–2009, households installed the PV panels on their own and installation was a major barrier. This had changed radically by 2014–2016, when most of the households studied had bought turn-key systems with installation included.